


Dig Two Graves

by t0talcha0s



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: (sort of), Canon Compliant, I'm taking my liberties on when the four meet up again in yorknew, Leorio thoughts, References to extreme poverty and death and Leorio's tragic backstory in general, Third Person POV, Yorkshin City | Yorknew City Arc (Hunter X Hunter), and that's really all it is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:21:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24836068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/t0talcha0s/pseuds/t0talcha0s
Summary: Upon seeing Kurapika for the first time in months Leorio recognized two things.The first thought being: Kurapika looks worseand the second being: I missed him.
Relationships: Kurapika & Leorio Paladiknight, Kurapika/Leorio Paladiknight
Comments: 1
Kudos: 39





	Dig Two Graves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neverwherever](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverwherever/gifts).



> hey these are actual notes: I mix all three canons because I've consumed them all and they blend together for me but for those who don't know Pietro is the friend from Leorio's backstory and this is all happening right after the boys meet up again in yorknew but before they actually enact their plan to kidnap Pakunoda etc.
> 
> Title comes from the Confucius quote "when embarking on a journey of revenge, dig two graves" 
> 
> Once again donated to my roommate Julia bc she wrote hxh fanfiction astride me tonight and it was a genuine pleasure. (she is a better writer then I and please PLEASE go read her hxh fics bc they hit me right where it should) We've had a lot of wine and we've had a lot of cheese: enjoy.

Leorio almost hadn’t accompanied Gon and Killua to Dayroad park. It was across the city from the hotel, Gon insisted the walk was fine, he understood Kurapika was Very Busy, and Leorio wasn’t quite sure he was up for the hike. He also didn’t want to leave Zepile alone in their hotel room scouring the internet for any last minute valuable items or auctions to get Gon his money. He felt a little guilty about it but the opportunity to see Kurapika after so long was simply too tempting. So he’d left Zepile with a fresh pack of cigarettes and a takeout menu, thanking him for his time and ensuring any dinner he wanted was on him, and joined the boys for their picnic. 

Gon and Killua had purchased enough for eight people but Leorio wasn’t too hungry. There was a tickling sort of nervousness that ran along the inside of his stomach. He stuck to tea. Gon and Killua though, they powered through mouthful after mouthful: sandwiches and salads and pizza and donuts and pie it was like they hadn’t eaten in months. This all despite the fact that they’d all had a rather pleasant and filling lunch earlier that day. Leorio sat and picked at the dirt underneath his fingernails. He waited and tried to avoid getting hit with half-chewed food whenever Gon got too excited and tried to speak through whatever was in his mouth.When Leorio inevitably got hit he laughed it off anyway, Gon was charming even when he was gross. 

It was nice for a while, the three of them sitting, eating, and laughing. Killua and Gon had certainly built up more of their rapport in their time alone, it made Leorio’s heart warm. The two of them, young and content in just their company, smiles shining in the waning sun. 

“Killua!” Gon said, pointing excitedly to a beetle making its way across the corner of their blanket. The beetle was red and shaped like a fingernail. Killua looked blankly at it. 

“It’s just a beetle Gon.” 

“But wait, wait Killua” Gon gently pushed his thumbnail under the beetle’s back legs, gently coaxing it up into the air. It sat contentedly for a moment and Gon shot Killua an anticipatory grin. He slowly brought his hand up to his face and blew gently on the beetle’s rear. It shuddered unhappily and lifted itself up off of Gon’s fingers. As it flew away it revealed a large pair of tan wings with red, blue, and green symmetrical spots that caught the light and sent it scattering in kaleidoscopic rays. “It’s a stained glass beetle! Those wings attract mates, on whale island in July you’d see whole swarms of them fluttering around. Aunt Mito used to think they were annoying because they’d climb into our bedroom windows.” Gon chuckled happily at the memory while Killua took the chance to steal a pepperoni off of Gon’s pizza and something about the two of them sitting in the grass surrounded by an air of love made Leorio’s chest clench, a pleasant-unpleasant feeling sitting right behind his ribs.

In Leorio’s mind the figures of the boys was replaced by two of the same age in the hot sun that shone down between buildings, dirt roads that kicked up running storms. Their toothy smiles suddenly obscured by a wetted towel draped over feverish forehead. Their picnic stuffed stomachs slimmed and shrunk showing ribs and hipbones the two boys had never had to see in such stark relief. Leorio’s throat felt like it was full of cotton, choking him and keeping the bright pressure of love in his chest from rising upward and off of his tongue. He kept himself from pulling Gon and Killua into a tight hug, ignored the urge to touch the back of his hand to their foreheads. Before he could do something embarrassing, act on the strangled love-memory that clawed at the tendons in his chest, a familiar skirted silhouette strolled into view. That too made something pick at Leorio’s ribs. 

“Kurapika!” Gon cried, spewing remnants of who knows what onto Killua’s cheeks. Kurapika looked slimmer beneath his robes, less substantial. There was a dramatic glove of chains settled into the skin of his right hand. Killua, sneaking up on Gon as he stood in wide-eyed admiration in front of Kurapika, threw a plate of pie into Gon’s face. The chains on Kurapika hand clinked as he brought it to his mouth, snickering at the boys’ antics. There was something about those chains. It made Leorio exhale strongly before his greeting. Kurapika had always worn tragedy as an accessory but this felt beyond, a high fashion admission of revenge. 

“Kurapika” Leorio parroted, receiving the full of Kurapika’s attention now that Gon was distracted by an aggressive wrestling match. “It’s been a while.” Since Kukuroo Mountain, Leorio kept to himself, since we slept in that house where the blankets were seventy pounds and when you had to take a leak in the morning your arms hurt with the effort of sliding open the bathroom door. You used to complain about the cups especially, never liked how hard it was to take a sip of tea. “You look tired.” 

“Leorio” he responded, and Leorio could not tell if it was fondness or something else that brought his name out of Kurapika’s mouth. It sat there for a moment, “Do you have somewhere safe to talk?” 

The hotel room, when the four of them returned, was empty and semi-neat. There were a few bear cans left by he and Zepile on the counters, the bed where Gon and Killua slept was unmade and messy from their midnight kicking fits, a recently finished cigarette butt in the ashtray by the window. There was a note by the opened pack. The note assured Leorio that Zepile didn’t order takeout but really appreciated the gesture and that he was, in his words, more of a menthol man in case Leorio felt the need to buy him any more cigarettes in the future. Kurapika settled on the edge of Leorio’s bed, Gon jumping excitedly onto his across from him, Killua following. 

“Kurapika, you must be so happy now that the spiders are dead! You can finally focus on getting back the eyes of your people” Gon seemed, at the news, overwhelmingly happy, profoundly so. The grim set of Kurapika’s jaw spoke the truth before he did. 

“The corpses were fake.”

“Fake?” Leorio couldn’t help but exclaim, settling beside Kurapika on his bed, pushing the pillows aside and watching the boys instead of Kurapika’s newly exposed cheekbones, the bobbing of his Adam's apple, the firm convinced clench of his hands. 

“The spider’s aren’t dead, Hisoka told me.”

“You’ve been working with Hisoka?” 

“He’s not one of them, he’s been feeding me information about their powers and their strategies.” 

“What does he get out of it?”

“I don’t know,” Kurapika said, the honesty of the statement left a new-form bruise where his eyes gazed at Leorio, “something about wanting to fight the boss, something convoluted, I don’t know.” Leorio felt there was something more he wanted to say, some petty _Does it matter?_ or _even I don’t understand_ or _I’ll do whatever it takes, who cares what, I’d give everything._ Leorio looked over at Gon and Killua

“Let us help you fight them then!” said Gon and Killua didn’t say anything. There was an apprehensive inhale, though. Something about his posture tightened, solidified. Leorio didn’t mention it but he saw something shift in Killua’s gaze, a protective facade covering the happy reverence of Gon-proximity. 

“Gon, there’s no reward anymore” Kurapika started and Leorio felt it was too soon, too much to begin this conversation at the present moment. Protecting both himself and Killua from the righteous fury that simmered beneath Gon and Kurapika’s skin. 

“Is the auction still going on?” he asked “the mafia one anyways” Kurapika sighed 

“They’re hesitant about the whole thing. They don’t know the troupe is alive and they don’t want to start anything with meteor city by trodding on their memory.” 

“Are you going to tell them?”

“No.”

“You can’t be considering taking them on alone.”

“You misunderstand Leorio, I was never counting on the help of the mafia.” 

“Then let us help!” Gon stood up. His boots made a sudden sound against the floor. 

“I can’t ask you to do that.” 

“You’re not asking, we’re offering!” And thankfully before Kurapika could openly consider the notion, before plans could be put into the air and therefore made concrete, the door to the hotel room swung open and in stepped the jovial figure of Zepile. The short cut of his coat puffed out behind him as he strode into the room. 

“Hey fellas!” he said offering up a wrapped parcel in his hands “you won’t believe the deal I got at the seller’s market today, we’re going to triple our investment on this one.” Each face in the room turned towards him, Leorio let out an almost-audible exhale of relief. 

“Zepile,” he offered an explanatory hand towards the stern blond man seated to his side “this is Kurapika.” Zepile put the package down. Kurapika gave him a confused appraisal of a glance. 

“Oh Kurapika I’ve heard plenty about you. Well, not too much, Leorio just told me about how you all met, how you got into a fight on a ship and the hunter exam and well you already know the rest huh, you were there and all.” An unamused silence fell behind Zepile’s comments and the five of them sat still for a few moments.

“What’d you get at the market?” Leorio motioned towards the floor between the beds, enough room for Zepile to fit between them. He sat cross legged with the parcel in his lap, unwrapping the purple fabric that formed the handle he had carried it by. 

“It’s a revolutionary pistol” he commented, pulling a smooth wooden and glass box out of its wrappings. “It’s not in the best condition but it is engraved with the name of a fairly important general and has the original receipt from the production company. It’s barely ever been fired.” The wooden box had a smooth golden plaque on the front with a name that Leorio did not recognize. He wasn’t phased by this though, history was never his favorite subject. “There are gun geeks on the internet who would go wild for this specimen. I bet I could get it up and sold within the next two days, and for a hell of a lot of money too.” He grinned proudly and Gon responded with equal enthusiasm, reaching out a hand to feel the grain of the wood. Leorio let out an appreciative whistle. Kurapika just sat, staring unimpressed at the historical specimen. He had no reason to appreciate revolutionary history, Leorio supposed, especially of a land so far away from his tribe. 

“Thank you So Much Zepile!” Gon flopped back on the bed again “you’re the best at this, we would be nowhere close to our goal without you!” Zepile smiled in response, his cheeks tipping wider with praise. 

“I should get this back to my room so I can take some good photos of it.” He put his hand on his knee and hoisted himself to his feet, bending to grab the box after he did. “I will see the three of you, uh maybe the four of you, tomorrow. It was super nice to meet you Kurapika, I hope we get to spend more time together.” Kurapika gave a non-committal head gesture and Zepile, after more comfortably giving Leorio and the boys their goodnight wishes, shuffled out of the room and down the hall. 

“I need a driver,” Kurapika said once the door had slid quietly shut, brown eyes turning to meet Leorio’s. Leorio couldn’t respond, his words stuck down in his throat as if they were blocked, a heavy plate of iron halting them from rising any further.

“You’ll be safe with Kurapika” Killua teased, or maybe he meant it genuinely, Leorio still found it hard to differentiate between his moods and managed to be insulted. 

“I didn’t pause ‘cause I was scared. Of course I can drive you Kurapika, do you have a car for me to drive?” He took little time with the question, shrugging it off with the assertion that 

“I can get one” He turned to Killua and Gon “Killua I’d need you to survey their hideout, and Gon I’d need you as a distraction.” Leorio had stopped listening, his ears felt fuzzy and unequipped, all he could think was how the ruthless clench of Kurapika’s jaw would give him lines that mimicked laughter lines. But weren’t, they wouldn’t be. How he was worried about him, not about the safety of Gon or Killua, they had each other and as much as it was difficult for Leorio to admit what they had was sturdier than anything Leorio could give them. He was worried for Kurapika. He saw a recklessness, a distinct disregard of personal safety. Leorio wanted to lay Kurapika on the bed they sat on and tuck him in tightly beneath the blankets, make him rest. He wanted to see the dark purple sags underneath Kurapika’s eyes dissipate. He wanted to place the back of his hand on his forehead. He wanted to do something other than be a driver, something that would actually help, not in his revenge but in him. Sometimes he worried about Kurapika, he worried and worried about how Kurapika spent so long being angry, let his rage grow and grow and literally wind its way around and inside his heart and make one slip and he’d be dead on the ground like Pietro and once again there would be nothing Leorio could do. 

Kurapika got up from his place on Leorio’s bed, stood in front of Gon and Killua, asserted that he must be leaving: 

“Got a text from work,” he said. And once again Leorio was met with the familiar sight of a retreating Kurapika. It stung, to see him leave, because Leorio knew he was once again leaving with the notion that he needed to take it all on alone. There was no place for Leorio in Kurapika’s vision, Leorio knew this, but he still had hoped all the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Ey whatsup its real Leorio hours aka 2:16 AM. Love this boy love these boys I wrote this mainly so I could have an excuse to have Zepile and Kurapika meet bc I find that idea mad funny. 
> 
> Leave me a comment with how y'all felt about this and if ur into it hmu on twitter @poetforprofit 
> 
> A little carbonation and I'll see you next time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIRnM6s4GNo


End file.
